Pravda: 2 Chernobyl Aides Fired

June 16, 1986|By United Press International.

MOSCOW — The director and chief engineer of the crippled Chernobyl nuclear power station were fired in the aftermath of the nuclear accident seven weeks ago that killed 26 people, the Communist Party newspaper Pravda said Sunday.

The story in the nation`s most important newspaper did not specify the cause of the fatal explosion and fire, but followed numerous hints of incompetence in reaction to the disaster by the staff of the Ukrainian power station.

It also said some employees of the power station have been ``on the run`` since the accident but did not elaborate.

``The former director V. Bryuhanov and chief engineer N. Fomin were dismissed for not being able to organize leadership and discipline, for meekness and lack of administrative ability,`` Pravda said.

In addition, a number of other officials were criticized by name but it was unclear if they had also been fired. The newspaper said Deputy director R. Solovyon left his post ``at the most important moment.``

``Due to a lack of administrative and educational work with people, some of the workers of the station are on the run, among them the shift master and head masters,`` Pravda said.

The April 26 accident contaminated a wide area spread across four Soviet republics and killed 26 people, according to the most recently released figures.( 6 Block spaces, for 2 Pts. )

In the aftermath of the disaster, the city council of Pripyat, the workers town near the reactor that was evacuated, has received letters from evacuees complaining of bureaucractic delays in assistance, the newspaper said.

The long-term problems facing the area were underlined by a reference to the boats which will ``stand for long`` in the Pripyat River near the reactor to house returning workers.

Pravda said the decontamination work at the two undamaged reactors at the four-reactor power station, which are scheduled to resume operation in October, requires more people.